February 27, 2011

The Lanes' of Virginia

This week has been a rather busy. Monday's FHE involved a great deal of pig passing.Tuesday were had a tri-ward roller rink night. Friday was young married Saturday we got up early and went to DC. We visited the American History Smithsonian and went to the temple. At the Smithsonian we saw the original ninja turtles outfit, Jurassic park eggs& mosquito, original muppets,Dorthy's red slippers, Micheal Jackson's hat, Abe Lincoln's death mask, and Julia Child's kitchen. When we were out we began to realize Julie might be getting Bronchitis, so Sunday was a rather quiet day for her as she was left home alone, however, Jeff lead the music for her in sacrament! Jeff also made cookies. good cookies, yummy.

The Jackson's of Albuquerque

Stacie and Kevin had a pretty nice week. On Monday night they enjoyed having FHE together. They decided to start using the Sunday school study guide for FHE and decided that it was a nice guide for FHE for two people. On Tuesday Stacie assisted with mutual where they girls completed some Young Women experiences in Integrity. On Wednesday Stacie and Kevin stayed on campus late so Stacie could hold an info session for a new job that she helped create for the summer conferences. She looks forward to continue preparing for the summer months.

On Friday Stacie decided to apply for another position within her department, which should give her more learning experiences and a better pay (which really makes Kevin and Stacie hopeful that she gets it). On Friday night they enjoyed watching Star Wars: A New Hope. This week Stacie and Kevin will be making all Star Wars themed meals from their great Star Wars themed cookbook, "Wookie Cookies." On Saturday Stacie and Kevin attended the temple to perform some initiatories. Unfortunately, there was a bit of confusion and Kevin endedeup in an endowment session while Stacie was in initiatories. They were separated for a while, but they were thankful to be united after a while.

The Haws Family of Colorado

This week the girls enjoyed having a day off from school for Presidents Day and I enjoyed a day of sleeping in. On Thursday I was able to help in Haley’s class; it was good to see that she was actually excited for me to be in her class. On Saturday we took the girls to the children’s museum in Pueblo where they were able to do a lot of hands-on activities and play dress-up. On the way home the Altima’s Check Engine light came on again. This is the third time in the last three months, we are pretty sure that it is just a sensor that we replaced in December. However, we are hoping to make it last for a least one more year. Because we just paid off Andy’s F-150 and are hoping not to have another vehicle payment for at least one more year.

Andy was pulled off the class in Philadelphia that he was supposed to go to next week. The reason that he is no longer going to this class is because in the past week weeks he has became the only individual running the Brigades, Support Operations (SPO), Transportation Integration Division (TID). The TID section that Andy is running, is suppose to have 2 x SFC (E-7), 2 x SSG (E-6), and 2 x SGT (E-5); as well as a few Warrant Officers. However, he has been single handling running this section by himself for the last few weeks and will probably not have any assistance for another month or so. However, they decided to let Andy go to a local school (Unit Movement Officer Course) in May when everyone else is in Wyoming for training.

(My camera was not working so I will have to send pictures next time.)

Grant's News

This week at work Grant and the other managers were preparing for a meeting with the entire restaurant staff, which only happens every couple of years. Grant's portion of the meeting went pretty well. This week also involved the start of All-You-Can-Eat Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks at the restaurant which is something guests love but servers hate. Aside from work, Grant has been planning the flower beds he will be building whenever the wretched snow subsides. His main project is going to be building a flower bed on the side of the house by the garage. Otherwise, Grant had Sunday evening off and has been baking muffins.

Jeff and his International Family

Jeff is settling into his new job. He shared with me how much he enjoys working in the same office with Steven and Matthew. He continues to show his abilities and insight in the work place. He is searching for a home and attended a ward in the area that he is thinking of renting. I have not reached him today but he was invited to Uncle Steven's 64th birthday dinner today. I am anxious to know what physical feat Steven has accomplished.

The Haws Family of Wisconsin

Logan is excited because he received his soccer team roster. He can't wait for the season to begin. He received his Tenderfoot award in scouts this week along with three merit badges- Carpentry, Computers and Scouting Heritage. On Saturday morning Logan performed two piano pieces in a local event and received the highest ranking possible. Logan and I had the opportunity to ski together on Saturday evening.

Emily is preparing for her solo and ensemble piece this coming week. She has picked a difficult piano piece. She has put a lot of work into it and hopefully it will turn out very well. On Saturday she helped with presenting a puppet show in German at the annual Culture Fair.

Lanette attended the Culture Fair with us on Saturday. She enjoyed listening, tasting and learning more about a variety of countries. She completed her two weeks in the LIFEhouse this week. I think she made some good progress.

Mom and I enjoyed a date together on Saturday evening after my skiing adventure with Logan. We were one of the last costumers at Applebees. Grant treated us to a great meal with wonderful hospitality. On Friday I had the opportunity of attending the St Paul Temple. I was blessed to do the work for our ancestor, Charles Bedard. He was born in 1811 in Charlesbourg, Quebec. As I did the work I had a deep feeling assuring me that he was delighted to have his endowments completed for him. I pictured in my mind my Mom and Dad greeting Charles Bedard and let him know that they were pleased to know that I could help him in his eternal progress. It was a wonderful night in the temple. Thanks to each of you that have done work for our ancestors. I believe there is great rejoicing in this sacred work.

February 20, 2011

The Jackson's of Albuquerque

It's been a slow but nice week for Stacie & Kevin. On Monday they ordered a heart shaped pizza to celebrate Valentine's day. On Tuesday Stacie enjoyed a mutual activity where the youth prepared treats to "heart attack" the homes of elderly members of the ward. It was tender to see the excitement on the members' faces. On Friday Stacie and Kevin enjoyed going out to dinner to their favorite Chinese food place, the Hong Kong Palace. With aching, but full, tummies they walked around Savers for a few hours and enjoyed checking out old movies & books. Afterwards they stayed up late watching their favorite BBC show based on Swedish mystery novels- Wallander.

Saturday was spent running errands, cleaning clothes, and staying up late watching movies and eating snacks. On Sunday they headed off to church at their new time- a whopping 2pm-5pm at night. They felt it was a bit odd leaving church as the sun was setting. However, they are pretty big fans of sleeping in.

Stacie

The Colorado Haws Family

The good news of all this week is that Kayla turned 4 years old! I can't believe how fast the time goes by. She really enjoyed making her cake and putting the Tinkerbelle figurines on it. She didn't mind that we had a family party for her, but Haley didn't think that it was as cool as inviting friends over for a party.

I was also able to help Haley's teacher prepare for their Valentines party. I really enjoyed being there with Haley. After, Haley and I was able to attend Kayla's valentine party at her school. I am look forward to volunteering more often in their classrooms so I am able to spend more time with them and also to get my foot in the door for when I go back to work.

Andy is counting down the days for road guard to be over for him (only one more week.) Luckily the temperature has not been as bad lately so he doesn't feel like he has been getting frostbite.

Grant's News

By some miracle, Grant ended up with three days off this week. One of which was Valentines Day, which was surprising since he is the only unmarried manager. On Wednesday he drove to Neenah for a work meeting early Thursday morning. Every couple of months the managers from all over Wisconsin have to meet to review new menus and new procedures. Neenah is about two hours east. He spent Wednesday afternoon enjoying the warm weather walking around downtown Neenah and the river that flows right through the city. By warm, he means 50 degrees, which felt like a toasty July afternoon compared to recent weather. Thursday he had his meeting and then drove home in dense fog. The rest of the weekend working was somewhat uneventful. He was excited Friday because one of the mothers of his employees gave him a snazzy baking cookbook with a lot of fancy recipes. His coworkers informed them that although they don't like to bake, it doesn't mean they are opposed to baked goods in the workplace.

The Lane's of Virginia

Happy Be-lated Valentines! Hope all feel loved!!!
For us the holiday was unexpectedly better than we thought it would be since we had to relocate the kittens :(! Jeff got Julie a beautiful heart necklace from "Shaw's"; since they were doing their awesome 20 dollar sale. Instead of breakfast in bed it was diamonds! Whoo--hoo!Julie gave Jeff the coveted nerf mace! Which for FHE he promptly took to the coolest park-it has this awesome wood fort!!!!! There he enjoyed practicing on Julie the techniques he had been developing. So the romantic holidays are filled with violence and fun for our family.

This week has been a long one- Since all you westerners coughed in the wind- Julie got sick. (We are not actually blaming you guys).

The dryer broke this week, so we spent way too much time waiting around for the no-show repairman. Needless to say there is a new mt Fuji building out of our laundry pile.

Just for giggles! Lanette-rs:called to talk to Julie. Apparently, Lanette wanted learn more about Julie's diabetes. She began to collect information about it, to use in her repetour. She wanted to know how-if she could get it. Julie told her all the things that she would have to at least minimize or cutout to prevent it-including the MC D chx nuggets or battered fish fillets.Lanette got so scared that she hung up would not answer our calls for days and when mom asked her about it she got rather quite.

We ate at our favorite chicken palace-which was really fun! For those fans of Buffalo wings the new Thai curry is rather good.

Saturday Jeff and Julie both enjoyed a quite Saturday since Julie is still sick they kept it low key.

Sunday Julie was still sick and missed church. Jeff gave a lesson on service. Sacrament meeting was about preparedness for ward conference.


Other news, weather is great and windy, with smoke on Saturday.

The International Haws Family

Jeff will be leaving to come to the USA tonight. Please include Jeff and his family in our prayers. Renata has a large kidney stone that will require surgical removal in the near future. We will be so blessed to have all of them here with us in the States.


The Wisconsin Haws Family

We have enjoyed unseasonably warm weather this week only to be hit with near blizzard conditions today. It is quite amazing how the weather can change so quickly. We are enjoying a quiet Sunday here today and it is likely that schools will be cancelled tomorrow.

Logan performed on Friday for Solo and Ensemble. He did a solo as well as a duet. Mom tells me that it was terrific and received the mutual approval of many of his fellow students. We did not go skiing last week due to the warm weather but it is likely that we will have some great skiing days ahead. Logan and I will be camping this week at the Hannah Adventure Camp.

Emily has ordered a second prom dress. The first was cancelled by the company but after a lot of effort she has found a dress combination that will be beautiful and modest. She continues to work hard in school with special interest in pyschology. I think that she is pretty certain that she would like to attend James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.

Lanette and I have been reading Before Green Gabels. I must confess that I really enjoyed it and read late into the night last evening. Lanette is excited that Elizabeth Elmhorst delivered a healthy boy this week. Mom and her will try and visit Biz perhaps in the near future. I think she is especially happy that her return to the school was delayed this week.

Mom has been talking with Jeff and making sure that things will work for his move to the States. As always, Mom is concerned that each of her children are doing OK no matter what your age may be. Mom's day is never really over until Grant drops in after work and spends a few minutes talking with Mom. I am sure their conversation has be a little louder than usual because of the background snoring.

As for me, my week has been marked by ongoing blessings. I have enjoyed talking with Lanette about Anne of Green Gables, with Emily about Wisconsin politics and playing ping pong with Logan. My time with Grant has been limited but I did stay up late last night to welcome home after a crazy Saturday night at Applebees. I have appreciated Mom's counsel on life and living.

13 February 2011

It is almost Valentines Day. I talked with Kayla today and she is very excited about Valentines Day and of course her fourth birthday. May each of us enjoy the childlike wonder of life.

From the Colorado Haws Family

This week has overall been a good week. We started out this week in below zero weather, which was not very good for Andy since they still made them do road guard. But by this weekend we had warmed up to high 60's.

The girls enjoyed not having school on Friday for a teacher in-service day. I was able to take them to story hour at the library where they were able to listen to a story and make a craft. Haley was glad that she was able to play with her friend down the street, however she was upset that they had to play at our house and not hers.

On Saturday we went to Denver so I could attend the temple. It was a very beautiful day to drive. I was so grateful that our car did just fine going up there and back. Andy took the girls to Target while I was in the temple and of course they sweet talked daddy into buying them squishy pillows and popcorn.

The Jackson's of Albuquerque

Kevin was sick through most of this week. However, he'd like to convey that, in his words: "I think I'm going to make it." We sure hope so!


On Tuesday Stacie headed over to the church early for mutual as it was New Beginnings. The Young Women's presidency prepared a slightly unconventional New Beginnings program that was pirate themed and focused on finding your true treasure. Stacie enjoyed leading a crossword game focused on learning about the Young Women's theme. On Thursday Stacie and Kevin decided to abruptly end their new primal ("caveman") diet and went out for a bread run. They really enjoyed the diet, but decided that life without bread wasn't quite worth living.


On Friday Stacie and Kevin went out on the town for a date. They thought of Grant as they decided to eat at Applebee's. Afterwards they came home and enjoyed watching some of "The Muppet Show." On Saturday they spent most of the day running errands. Stacie was surprised when Kevin offered to take her to Old Navy to get some new work clothes. He also took her to some of her favorite shops in Uptown, including Anthropologie, Williams Sonoma, and Pottery Barn. Stacie now knows exactly how to spend the millions of dollars she'll win someday from competing in Wheel of Fortune or Minute to Win It. In the evening they headed over to their friends' home for dinner. Their friends, Justin and Julie, served them the first meat loaf that Stacie and Kevin ever had in their marriage. Thus, it was pretty epic.

The Wisconsin Haws Family

It is warming up here in Wisconsin. It hit 50 degrees Fahrenheit (sorry Jeff that is not the same as Celsius). The snow is melting and it is gorgeous.

Logan and I hit the slopes again last night for skiing. If the weather keeps up like it is our ski adventures may not last much longer. Logan continues to improve and I am having a good time myself.

Emily attend a tri-stake youth dance in Green Bay. Sara Oba drove the Emily to Green Bay along with brother, Tony and Cody Lane. Today she made cookies, cookies and more cookies with her German club. She is going to soccer practice several days each week and loving it.

Lanette will be in the LIFEhouse this week. It will be a good challenge for her. Mom and I meet with the Marshfield High School on Friday as they prepare for her attendance next year.

Mom was able to attend the St Paul Temple yesterday. We continue to appreciate the efforts to get work done for our ancestors. It is really neat to see the work come together. On Saturday I took time to work on family history and I am always willing and ready to send more temple work cards out to you at anytime. I love the blessings the temple has brought to our family. Thank you and please go often.

February 6, 2011

The Lanes of Virginia

We are not the last people to send in this week!!!
Yeah!!! About time!

This week we have been very busy with daily routines and such.

Julie had lunch with a neighbor on Tuesday. The girl she had lunch with wanted to learn how Julie made her honey, whole-wheat bread, so on Thursday Julie had her over again during the day to make some bread and play with the girls baby a little. Before the Thursday bread extravaganza- Julie had achievements days on Wednesday. She made a sort of Heroines of the Bible coloring book. Not to be confused with the drug. We discussed who are heroes are, why they are our heroes, and how we can become like them. We also wrote thank you notes to someone we appreciate. Much to Julie's surprise she found a note hidden in her achievement day stuff.

We spent some time this week at the mall looking for what the other person would like for valentines; since we are trying to do something other than candy and stuffed animals. Jeff decided that he wanted a nerf mace, so Julie appeased his wish, but Julie wanted it to be a surprise, so Jeff stashed her in a bookstore while he shopped. Apparently the thing he bought was supposed to be at one store, but when he got there it was all sold out. Jeff, never discouraged, went to the store across the way and found what he was looking for for the same price. Hurray! So now we are all set except the fowl we wish to eat that day. We intend to take Jeff's medieval tools of torture to the park, with the fowl for a feast in our nice CA weather! Julie will likely make a loaf of bread to bring along.

Friday we used one of our Christmas Presents to go to dinner at Chilis and it was very good! Thanks Ma and Pa! It was a realllll treat!!!


Saturday we went on a walk that turned from a 20 minute walk to a 1 1/2 walk because it was raining warm and it was so beautiful we just had to take the longest path at the park. The path is kind of cool because it has a bunch of playground like exercise equipment like an elliptical and many other things. Julie also attempted the truffles again for the next days activities.

Sunday, Jeff is substituting for a primary class. Later that evening we are headed over to a friends house for dinner.


Julie

The Colorado Haws Family

This week has been full of crazy weather. On Tuesday and Wednesday the girls were happy because they had snow days, not that there was much snow, but because it did not get above 0 and the roads were a little icy. So on Wednesday we were able to enjoy being at someone else's house for a playgroup. On Friday Kayla and I was able to enjoy a meal at Culvers (Wisconsin people know what I am talking about) then went to the library. Saturday the girls were excited because it snowed again and was the type of snow where the girls were actually able to build things, whereas the snow that we usually get is too soft to build anything. The girls also had a lot of fun playing dress-up and witches with Andy. Andy is still in charge of road guard at work and cannot wait until it is over so he doesn't have to get up so early or be in the negative degree weather.

Grant's News

Grant finally got a day off last Sunday and was able to spend some time hanging out and having dinner with his friend Amber. Work went pretty smooth this week and Grant had a meeting in Plover this week (near Stevens Point) where he and the other managers were able to work out some of the issues that have been troubling the restaurant as of late. On Friday he had the opportunity to be the first person to ever dye Emily's hair. Emily just wanted two streaks on the under bit of her hair by her neck, one black, one blonde. She saw it in a magazine a while back and thought it was really pretty. Tonight Grant is heading into what should be a very slow at the restaurant courtesy of the Packers.

The Jackson's of Albuquerque

This past week has been a chilly one for Stacie and Kevin in Albuquerque. The blizzard across the country included New Mexico, which resulted in one school day for Kevin and two work days for Stacie. On Tuesday the roads were packed with snow and the university canceled all classes and informed all non-critical employees to stay home. Stacie and Kevin enjoyed their day off together. Stacie spent most of the day scrapbooking and really enjoyed not having to worry about work. To their surprise, the university closed again on Wednesday. This may or may not have resulted in a celebratory jump on the bed.


On Thursday the university enforced a late start which meant Stacie began at 10am instead of 8am. Kevin was a bit disappointed when he received a text from the university just after getting off the bus at 3pm informing him that all evening classes were canceled. However, once Stacie began work it was easy to tell why the university continued to close; it was too cold! Unfortunately the state of New Mexico was not prepared for the cold front and entire towns lost heat due to having no natural gas. In order to help restore gas to the towns without heat, the university decided to keep the buildings cold and the people out of them. For the few hours that Stacie was at work on Thursday, she spent most of the time huddled next to a space heater in her office, which was at about 45 degrees. She was able to leave work at 4pm and learned that the governor had mandated that people living in Albuquerque reduce the heat in their homes by at least ten degrees to accommodate with the gas shortage. Stacie and Kevin stayed huddled under lots of blankets until Saturday, when the temperature spiked up from 1 degree to 40.

Although Stacie and Kevin are happy that the weather is much better now, they will miss their free days off.

The International Haws Family

Jeff has had the opportunity to talk with several of you during the last week. He is in the final preparation period for moving up to the states. We hope that all will go smoothly with their upcoming move.

The Home Front

Our home this week has been filled with sick people. I spent several evenings on the couch wondering if I was going to die but thankfully the illness broke on Friday. Mom is still fighting the illness off and I am afraid that Grant may have picked up the bug.

Logan and I felt well enough that we headed off for the slopes on Saturday. We had a wonderful evening of skiing. Logan picked it up very quickly and is anxious for another crack at the slopes.

Emily was able to go out with a group of friends for a movie and fun together. She came home very happy and ready for another school week. She has started soccer practice this week.

Lanette had a pretty quiet week at home but she has missed the flu bug and hopefully will remain well this week.

Mom had the unfortunate event of getting a flat tire on Saturday while Logan and I were skiing. Thankfully Brother Oba came to the rescue. That was a huge help for mom. Thank heavens for little acts of kindness. Mom showed today why she is such a great person. We had invited the missionaries over to eat tonight because I had heard that their dinner appointment had fallen through. When I told Mom that the Elders were going to come over. She didn't complain. She just made more delicious food. I called the Elders about 6 pm and asked if they could come a little earlier than planned dinner appointment(7 pm). I was surprised when the elder told me that the mission president had told the elders not to go out of their apartments after 4 pm. (I guess the Super Bowl fans have a reputation). I was taken back by this apparent last minute information after Mom had done so much work. We were both frustrated but Mom just said "lets pack up the extra food and take it to them" which she did. Some might have become offended but instead Mom found a way to turn it into a great learning experience for all of us. I am so lucky to have your Mom as my eternal sweetheart!

I have had the opportunity to go to a scout training meeting on Saturday morning. I learned a lot. The skiing on Saturday night topped off a wonderful day. I enjoyed the fast today. It brought new insight on life and my relationship with our Father in Heaven.